The law may chain up the wolf, but it is the Gospel that changes the wolfish nature.
– Samuel Bolton –
from The True Bounds of Christian Freedom, 1645
Flesh – Carnal Nature – Selfishness
A debtor of mercy and grace to the last moment – JC Ryle
How true it is that the holiest saint is in himself a “miserable sinner,” and a debtor to mercy and grace to the last moment of his existence!
– JC Ryle –
from Holiness, 1879
Beware of no man more than yourself – Charles Spurgeon
Beware of no man more than of yourself, for we often carry our worst enemies within us.
– Charles Spurgeon –
from The Complete John Ploughman
What is Making Prayer Dead – David Brainerd
The idea that everything would happen exactly as it does regardless of whether we pray or not is a specter that haunts the minds of many who sincerely profess belief in God. It makes prayer psychologically impossible, replacing it with dead ritual at best
– David Brainerd –
Consequence of a Earthly Heart – William Gurnall
Nothing more unbecomes a heavenly hope than an earthly heart.
– William Gurnall –
Live at his Ease – Andrew Fuller
It is worthy of special notice, that when our Lord had warned his followers to take heed and beware of covetousness,(Luke 12:13-21) the example which he gives of this sin, is not of one that was a plunderer of other men’s property, an unfair dealer, or an oppressor of the poor; but of a certain rich man whose ground brought forth plentifully; and whose only object appeared to be, first to acquire a handsome fortune, and then to retire from business and live at his ease.
– Andrew Fuller –
from The Backslider: His Nature, Symptoms, and Recovery
A Proud Heart Never Praises God – Charles Spurgeon
A proud heart never praises God, for it hoards up praise for itself.
– Charles Spurgeon –
from the sermon “Praise Your God. O Zion” (February 25, 1866)
Love God, Not the World – Thomas a Kempis
Call often to mind that proverb, “That the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing” (Ecclesiastes 1:8). Endeavor therefore to withdraw thy heart from the love of visible things, and to turn thyself to the invisible. For they that follow their sensuality, do stain their own consciences, and lose the favour of God.
– Thomas a Kempis –
from The Imitation of Christ
Sin Blinds – Andrew Murray
One great power of sin is that it blinds men so that they do not recognize its true character.
– Andrew Murray –